A [Belated] Patriotic Pie

I made this for my coworkers the day before my vacation began. All of my bakeware was in boxes in preparation of my move. I didn't want to buy tons of stuff to bake with, or to use my cleaned oven, so a no-bake cake or pie was the only option!

Patriotic Creme Pie

Serves 8 to 12.

8 oz cream cheese

12 packets Truvia (or other stevia sweetener)

8 oz Sugar Free Cool Whip

1/2 cup raspberries + some for topping

1/2 cup blueberries (more or less...)

1 graham cracker pie crust

Blend cream cheese and Truvia until smooth. Fold in Cool Whip until completely combined. Take half of the mixture and put it in a separate bowl.

Take 1/2 cup raspberries and mash them up until juicy. Pour the smashed raspberries into one of the cool whip mixtures and stir to combine. Pour into the crust and smooth into an even layer. Top with the plain cool whip mixture and spread until it covers the raspberry mixture completely and is flat on top.

Arrange blueberries and remaining raspberries on top in any way you'd like... get creative! :) Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight is best).

Simple Frozen Decadence

Since the beginning of my weight-loss journey over two years ago, I became a huge fan of smoothies. I had my basic recipe:

• 1/4 cup frozen fruit/berries
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup liquid (soy milk, almond milk, or some kind of fruit juice)

Easy peasy, but sometimes I'd add "eyeball" the amounts incorrectly and end up with a smoothie that was way too thick. It would sometimes just get stuck around the edges of my blender and I'd have to add more liquid to it just to make it pour-able!

Little did I know, what I was actually doing was making a frozen yogurt-like dessert! I've read on many blogs and websites of dairy-free "frozen yogurt" that uses frozen bananas, however I never tried it until Saturday. In the past three days I've made two versions of it (each amazing in their own way) and plan on making more!

The base of the recipe is simple:

• 1 frozen banana
• a splash (approx. 2 tablespoons) of liquid, such as soy milk, almond milk, or juice

To make it into your own custom creation, just add some mix-ins!

Here's my Tropical Freeze version:

• 1 frozen banana
• 8 pieces Trader Joe's Frozen Mango Chunks (approx. 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• a splash Trader Joe's Unsweetened Soy Milk

Blend it all together until it's nice and smooth!

For something a bit more decadent, I also made an Almond Cocoa Freeze:

• 1 frozen banana
• a splash of Trader Joe's Unsweetened Soy Milk
• 1 heaping teaspoon almond butter
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• slivered almonds, optional (as a topping)

This one was so rich and chocolatey, I could barely taste the banana flavor.

My boyfriend absolutely despises bananas (and, believe it or not, he doesn't like any fruit *gasp!*) to the point that he can't even see them without thinking the room smells foul. I've read many places that this banana frozen treat doesn't taste much like bananas, but I definitely can taste it. I hope to find a way to camouflage the flavor so my boyfriend can enjoy this healthy alternative to ice cream! I'm also hoping to make ice pops out of this stuff, and maybe even swirl some kind of syrup, jam, jelly, or honey in it to make it more like the confections in shoppes and supermarkets!

What combinations or varieties would you like to see? I will try to make some of them and feature the recipe in future blog posts!

LOST (...in baking)

The series finale of LOST was just over one week ago. It was my favorite show on TV and the finale was awesome (at least in my opinion; others definitely feel differently!). In the past, I've baked some stuff for LOST, but definitely nothing compared to what I brought to my friend's finale party!

The best thing about this cake is a combination of two things: it looks complicated, but it's really a very basic technique!

LOST Finale Cake

1 box white cake mix (I used Reduced Sugar Pillsbury)

1 box dark chocolate cake mix (I used Reduced Sugar Pillsbury)

1/2 batch Creamy Vanilla Almond Icing + 1/4 cup Hershey's Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder

1 tub creamy vanilla frosting (I used Reduced Sugar Pillsbury)

2 ounces Semisweet Baker's Chocolate

blue food coloring

green food coloring

Follow directions for cake using two 8" round cake pans (for each flavor of cake). I made the following substitutions:

• Margarine for the butter
• Unsweetened apple sauce for the oil

Let cakes cool completely before frosting. In the meantime, make the frosting (link above) by adding the cocoa powder before you add the powdered sugar. Set aside.

Also, make yourself the numbers... not just any numbers... but the numbers! ;) Melt the chocolate, put it in a piping bag (I used a Ziploc bag and cut the tip off of it), write the numbers on a piece of parchment or wax paper, and put in the fridge until hardened.

When cakes are cooled, stack them on top of each other.

I made 2 round chocolate pieces, one round white cake piece, and one square white cake piece (which will come into play later). My white layer was a bit wider than the chocolate so I trimmed it to fit.

Next, find something round to trace that's about half the diameter of the cake rounds. Mine was a cookie jar lid.

Using a knife with small serrations, I cut through all the layers of the cake at the same time. I repeated this through the one layer of square white cake. (You can use another round, but I only had 3 round cake pans, haha!) Then you'll have a core.

Rearranged the core to be the opposite of the outer ring. So, the outer ring is black-white-black and the inner ring is white-black-white. I used the black cake to make the dome on top, carving it as best I could.  In between each layer I put the previously-made chocolate frosting to hold it all together.

I dyed 3/4 of the white store-bought tub of frosting blue (for the water) and the other 1/4 I dyed green (for the island's jungle).

 

First thing's first: let me explain why I'm not using home-made frosting. I didn't have the stuff, and I always keep an emergency stash of boxed cake mix and pre-made frosting for emergencies! If you want to make your own frosting, I always say go for it!

Now, it's time for the "crumb layer" of frosting. When frosting most cakes (especially when they've been cut into, like the dome "island") you'll get tons of crumbs in the frosting. So, I used about 1/4 of each frosting and did a thin layer, then let it sit for a little while (about 10 minutes) so the crumbs would stick more to the cake.

See the difference? :) All you need to do now is grab the numbers, and put them on the outside!

Now, what's with all of those cores and layers and stuff on the inside? Well, check it out!

For all of you LOST fans out there, I used three main themes from the series in this cake:

1. Black vs. White (the two kinds of cake)
2. The Island (the colored frosting)
3. The Numbers (the chocolate on the outside)

Dorky? Yes. Yummy? For sure! You can make boxed mixes into fabulous baked goods by just using simple techniques!

Subway Series Super-Simple Cupcakes!

All you need to make a delicious, easy, not-too-bad-for-you cake (or cupcakes) are two ingredients:

12 ounces diet cola

1 box cake mix

That's it. If you've never heard of this or tried it, I bet it sounds weird. The first time I did this was about a year ago and I was really doubtful. At the time I used Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper and devil's food cake mix. (This time I used Diet Cherry-Vanilla Pepsi and devil's food cake, as you can see above.)

 I mean... look at that! It looks so weird! But, when you mix it up a little and the carbonation dies down...

...it looks like regular [cup]cake batter. Go figure! 

Give it a try and be creative with it! I've heard using diet cream soda with french vanilla cake mix tastes delicious. And that diet orange soda with vanilla cake mix tastes like a Creamsicle. Just beware of any potential color changes - don't use dark cola with a white cake mix unless you want a confusingly brown cake!

The full nutrition information for a 16-serving batch of this wonderful recipe can be found here.

Subway Series Cupcakes

Makes 16 Cupcakes

12 oz diet cola

1 box devil's food cake mix

1 batch Creamy Vanilla Almond Icing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with 16 paper liners.

Combine both ingredients until combined. Distribute batter evenly into liners (about 3/4 full) and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center. Let cool completely before frosting.

I used the above mentioned Almond Icing recipe but colored 1/4 of it orange (for the Amazin' Mets), left 1/4 of it white (for the stupid Yankees), and the remaining half was dyed blue (because both teams have blue as their color). Because I used liquid food coloring, it needed a bit more powdered sugar to hold the shape when the stars were piped on them; otherwise, the frosting recipe was followed completely and yielded great results! I've had horrible luck with frostings, but I think this will be my go-to recipe as it is easy to remember (equal parts cream cheese and butter, then powdered sugar until desired consistency... so simple!) and tastes great.

Oh, by the way: the Mets won the series 2-1. I'd like to think my cupcakes helped. :)

A Busy Baking Weekend

This was a busy, busy weekend for me. I had two events to bake for on Saturday, then I had to contemplate a delicious treat to make for my coworkers tomorrow. Be prepared: yummy photos ahead.

Event #1: Keeneland Tailgating

My goal was to come up with something not easily perishable or melt-able (since it was going to be sitting out in the sun for long periods of time) but easy to share among a large group. I took this recipe and made it my own:

Cinnamon Butterscotch Cake

Serves... many!

For cake:
6 oz (weight) unsweetened apple sauce
6 oz (approx. 1 cup) whole wheat flour
4 oz brown sugar
4 oz granulated sugar
2.5 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
3 tbsp light soy milk

For butterscotch glaze:
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup light soy milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8x8 glass baking dish with non-stick spray.

Mix the apple sauce and sugars until combined. Add eggs. When completely mixed, add in cinnamon and baking powder.

Slowly add in flour, alternating with milk. Pour into the baking dish and bake 20-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center.

Remove from the oven and put on a cooling rack. While cooling, prepare the glaze.

Heat soy milk until boiling (I did this in the microwave). Put butterscotch chips in a glass mixing bowl and pour the boiling milk on top of the chips. Let it sit for 3-4 minutes then vigorously mix until smooth. (If it needs to be melted more, put the bowl in the microwave for 15 second intervals, mixing after each time in the microwave, until everything is melted.)

Let the liquid sit for 5 minutes to thicken a little bit, then pour over the entire cake as evenly as possible.

You can serve immediately, but I recommend letting it sit overnight so the glaze can penetrate the cake and harden a little. When cooled, cut and serve!


Event #2: BBQ

This one had to also be able to sit in a car during the tailgating, since my friend and I were heading straight to a mutual friend's house immediately after the horse race. It had to also be able to be shared, and because my friends have been spoiled by my baked goods lately, it had to be different than anything I've made for them before. I chose to give this recipe an almond twist.

Almond Butter Filled Cocoa Cookies

Yields approx. 32 cookies

For cookies:

1½ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup margarine, softened
½ cup sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup light soy milk

For filling:
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup natural creamy almond butter


Preheat oven to 350F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a small bowl. In a large bowl, cream white and brown sugar with margarine. Combine wet and dry ingredients. It will be a little dryer than your average cookie dough because you'll have to manage the dough in your hands.

In a separate bowl, combine the almond butter and powdered sugar.

With your hands, scoop up about 3 tablespoons of the chocolate batter and form it into a disk. Place about 1 teaspoon of the almond butter mixture in the center of the disk and fold the sides of the disk up, smoothing out the seam. Place on the cookie sheet seam-side down.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes.


Event #3: Spoil My Coworkers

I've sort of been baking my coworkers things that I know they'd like. Now I'm thinking about myself. One of my favorite combinations is mint and chocolate, and I've been wanting to take a stab at cream cheese frosting, so I used this recipe and this recipe as inspiration for this funky-looking confection.

Icy Cool Layered Brownies

32 servings

Brownies:

1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup sugar
12 packets Truvia
3/4 cup egg whites
3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp almond extract

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 lb powdered sugar
8 tbsp Earth Balance spread at room temperature
1 package 2/3 Philadelphia cream cheese (8 oz) at room temperature
1 tsp peppermint extract
24 drops blue food coloring

Chocolate Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
4 tbsp Earth Balance spread
2 tbsp fat free sweetened evaporated milk
1 oz 72% cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped


Heat oven to 325-350 degrees. Grease 13x9 glass baking dish, or two 8x8 glass baking dishes.

For brownies:

Stir together apple sauce, sugar, and almond extract. Beat in eggs egg whites. Add cocoa, flour, and baking powder; beat until well blended. Pour batter into pan and bake 30-35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides and toothpick tester comes out clean. Cool completely.

For cream cheese frosting:

Beat together butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and pepperment extract. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until you have used it all and the frosting is smooth. Pour over cooled brownies and chill.

For the chocolate glaze:

Melt chocolate and butter in double broiler, mix with powdered sugar and add milk one tbsp at a time.

Pour glaze over frosted brownies. It didn't cover all of it for me, so I took a toothpick and swirled it around to give it a fun swirly look.

Currently they are in the fridge getting solid so I can slice them easier. These are the only things I've yet to taste... but based on how each component tastes separately, I'm confident it will all come out okay!

A Lazy Girl's Best Friend

The first time I've ever used parchment paper was yesterday afternoon when baking crackers. I've always substituted "parchment-lined cookie sheet" with "spray with Pam" due to sheer laziness, but now I think I'll always use parchment paper when I can! It's awesome!

I also used parchment paper when baking my version of Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Strawberry Cream this evening. I've been eyeing this recipe for a while and have all of the ingredients, except for strawberry preserves. All I did was substitute what I did have on hand: raspberry preserves!

Also, to cut back on the oodles of sugar, I cut the sugar in half and used 12 packets of Truvia. Sure, it was minimal since the cream has so much sugar in it, but you really can't tell because... well... the cream totally sweetens things up!

If you ever try this recipe (which I highly recommend!) just be forewarned that the amount of filling that the recipe makes gave me way too much for the number of cookies I yielded! I have at least half of it still in my fridge... I don't think I have enough cocoa to make another batch of cookies for it, but I'll have to find something to do with it. Maybe vanilla cupcakes? Any suggestions will be more than welcome!

I have a feeling my coworkers are going to love me tomorrow when I bring these goodies in!

Full recipe & nutrition here.

Facelift Number Thirteen - [vegan!] Marble Cake

I love Starbucks. Yes, I'm one of "those people" who order complicated-sounding drinks and, yes, I even have a Starbucks Gold Rewards Card. It's about time that I try one of their baked goods!

Now, as a warning, I completely forgot to take photos during the cooking process. I am SO sorry! It's a really simple 6-ingredient recipe, so I think you guys can handle it, but after this one I will be back on track with the photo-taking!

Anyway, onto the facelift, to show you can still have your cake and be vegan, too!

BEFORE THE FACELIFT



INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup Nasoya Silken Creations Dark Chocolate
1/2 cup Nasoya Silken Creations Vanilla
1/4 cup + 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp + 2 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
1.5 tsp + 1.5 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup + 3/4 cup all-purpose unbleached enriched flour

LET'S COOK!

Basically, you're making two different cake batters, then layering them. Easy!

Chocolate batter = chocolate Nasoya + 1/4 cup brown sugar + 2 tbsp apple sauce + 1.5 tsp baking powder + 3/4 cup flour

Vanilla batter = vanilla Nasoya + 1/4 cup brown sugar + 2 tbsp apple sauce + 1.5 tsp baking powder + 3/4 cup flour

Pour in an greased 8x8 glass dish in any order you see fit (I put vanilla on the bottom and chocolate on top). Stick a knife in the batter and swirl around a bit to marble it -- the more you move it around, the more "marble-y" it'll look.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350F. If you want to frost it, let it cool first!

FACELIFT RESULTS


238 fewer Calories (-68%)
13g less fat (-100%)
6g less saturated fat (-100%)
75mg less cholesterol (-100%)
28g less carbs (-53%)
4g less protein (-67%)
1g more fiber (from 0 to 1g!)
376mg less sodium (-74%)

Okay, again it seems I inadvertently reduced the protein. Despite this, if you were to eat 3 servings of the made-over marble cake, you'd get the same 6g of protein protein and still have less fat, saturated fat, sugar, sodium, and Calories!

Full recipe is HERE. Don't forget to keep sending e-mails and commenting... and now follow us on Twitter @FFFacelift!

Facelift Number Ten - Easy Peasy Mocha Frappe

I guess I owe you all another apology since I did not post the facelift I had done last week until, well... now. So, I'm very sorry for waiting so long to do this!

If you are like me and millions of others around the world, coffee from Starbucks is quite the addiction, especially their frozen concoctions. Here is one of my old favorites, re-done for your enjoyment!

BEFORE THE FACELIFT




Note: Just for fun, I made this exactly how I'd order it -- Grande with no whipped cream.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup coffee
1/2 cup Edy's Fat Free Yogurt Blends, Vanilla
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 packet Truvia sweetener (optional)
ice cubes











LET'S COOK!

As the subject of this blog post says, this is very very easy!


Put all ingredients in a blender. (My blender is a really amazing single-serving one by Fit-N-Fresh. I own a lot of their products and they're awesome!) I started with 2 ice cubes, as I wasn't sure how the consistency would be with more.


Blend until smooth! If you like you're thicker, add more ice cubes and blend until it's to your liking.

See? I told you it was easy!

FACELIFT RESULTS

137 fewer Calories (-52.7%)
2g less fat (-54.3%)
1g less saturated fat (-55%)
23g less carbs (-43.1%)
no change in protein
5g more fiber (from 0 to 5!)
177mg less sodium (-77.1%)

This was a really delicious and extremely quick treat to make! You can always make it to your own liking. If you want to make it minty, add some peppermint extract. If you want it even more chocolatey, use chocolate frozen yogurt instead of vanilla. The nutrition change will be negligible!

Full recipe is HERE. As usual, shoot me an e-mail or leave me a comment (or two!) with suggestions, comments, ideas, etc.

I will not be posting another facelift until sometime in mid-January 2010 (wow, how time flies!) so I wish you all the happiest of holidays. Be safe and enjoy the time with family and friends!

Facelift Number Seven - Dessert Time!

Firstly, I'm so sorry for being late with this week's facelift. Though I do not have a fever anymore, I'm still working on getting back to 100% health; I'd say I'm at 90% now. I honestly took it easy this week with the dish; it's a really really easy-to-make yet delicious dessert, and although I based it off of a dish at Uno's, I'm pretty sure you can find a Brownie A La Mode at plenty of other restaurants!

BEFORE THE FACELIFT


Mind you, this is only showing one serving. Each bowl is actually two servings so if you don't share it with someone, double the numbers above! Yikes!

Let's do this...

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons No Pudge Brownie Mix (original)
2 tablespoons Trader Joe's Greek Nonfat Yogurt, Plain
1 packet Truvia
.5 cup Edy's Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt Blends
1 wedge Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate with Ancho & Chipotle Chilis & Cinnamon
















LET'S COOK!


Mix Greek Yogurt, No Pudge mix, and Truvia together until...


...completely combined! Microwave according to directions (1 minute, or until done).


Grate one wedge of the chocolate.


Top brownie with frozen yogurt and sprinkle chocolate on top. Enjoy!

FACELIFT RESULTS

Assuming you only eat one serving of the original...
180 fewer Calories (-49%)
18g less fat (-90%)
10.5g less saturated fat (-87.5%)
60mg less cholesterol (-100%)
152.9mg less sodium (-69.5%)
27.8g less carbohydrates (-48.8%)
1.4g less fiber (-70%)
2.4g more protein (+60%)

Okay, so decreasing the fiber is an oops on my part. To counteract this, in hindsight I'd add a tablespoon of ground flax meal, which is one of my favorite things to add to baked goods!

Full recipe HERE.

Thanks again for being so patient with this blog post. This weekend I anticipate being on time!

Don't forget to keep commenting here and on my Spark People page, as well as e-mail, your suggestions and criticisms to me!